Congressional members speak out on the new Farm Bill

U-S Senators Tim Scott and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina have seen their South Carolina Peanut Parity measure pass in both chambers of Congress, as part of a conference report to the 2018 Farm Bill. The provision places an individual from South Carolina on the Peanut Standards Board at the USDA. The legislation now goes to the desk of President Trump, who is expected to sign it. Scott, Graham, and Second District Rep. Joe Wilson noted that although South Carolina has the fourth largest peanut industry, the state is not represented on the Peanut Standards Board. In the House, Rep. Jeff Duncan of the Third District says he opposed the Farm Bill because job requirements and food stamp and welfare reforms were taken out of the House version. “While the legislation is called the Farm Bill, eighty percent of the spending in the bill deals with welfare spending instead of agriculture,” he said.